Spiral of Destinies
by Das Luminei
Summary: Naruto grows up away from his village of origin, essentially erasing his identity. In the Country of Water he faces a different world, different challenges and a different destiny awaits him and those involved. AU: Doesn't follow the canon.
1. Prologue Part 1

"You don't deserve the life that you would have lived if you stayed. This is for the best."

He was out of breath, had been for a long while now. He'd been running since the sun was up, and now the only things in the sky were the moon and the stars. But he needed to keep going. Several people were tailing him relentlessly even through the dense foliage of the forest. That was to be expected, you can't easily lose trained ninja on your trail after all. Just barely dodging a kunai thrown in his direction, he kept on running, strafing left and right, making sure that nothing would touch him, especially anything sharp.

He needed some rest, but he knew he wouldn't be getting any for a long while. At least, not a long rest. With a quick side-step, he dodged into the shadow of a very large tree and out of his pursuers line-of-sight. A hand-seal later, he sent an exact clone of himself, from his body, his figure, right down to the very tools he was equipped with, to continue the chase for him while he continued to hide and regained his breath. To say that he was tired would be more than an understatement. His muscles were on the verge of overloading and he knew it. Fortunately for him, this sort of predicament was all too common for shinobi. He reached for a pocket on his belt and took out a small pellet which quickly found its way into his mouth after he pulled away on his mask. Soon after he swallowed it, all the aches and pains in his entire body just faded away, eventually his body felt like it was ready for another chase.

It wasn't obvious because of his heavy cloak but in his arm was a bundle of cloth and while unwrapping said bundle, it started to move. As he removed the final layer, prominent spikes of blonde hair poked out of the sheets. With a soft yawn the smallish human still partially hidden under the sheets stretched out his small arms and once again went back to sleep. This caused his carrier to smile softly behind his mask and spare an affectionate ruffle to the tiny child's hair before very carefully repacking his cargo.

"_That's right, just stay asleep, it'll make it easier for the both of us. But I have to compliment myself, using a silencing jutsu on you in case you wake up as well as a sound-proofing jutsu on your sheets was pure genius."_

He took this time to mentally pat himself on the back. Just then, several near silent footsteps darted right past him. Immediately he was completely motionless and silent as his previous smile faded, not a muscle moved while he could hear the foot steps of his pursuers running past his location. Praying, to anyone or anything that could listen to his thoughts that no one would find him, he huddled the child closer to his chest as though the act could bring his voice closer to the heavens.

"He went that way! Split into three teams and circle around the target in a pincer! I will take the center! Kakashi, lead the Anbu squad and take the left flank! Anko, you take the chunnins and take the right flank!" the commander, with his own team, brought his hand up to finalize his command. Soundlessly, everyone went with their acting commanders to initiate their plan of capture. They all seemingly disappeared in countless puffs of smoke, but to the trained eye, it was merely the appearance of them all speeding away in different directions with trained swiftness.

Once the coast was clear, the figure hidden behind the tree relaxed his muscles. He slowly slipped down the bark of the tree and sat on the ground, surprisingly or not, without making a single sound. He wiped sweat off his brow just under his head protector. He couldn't make a sound yet, or he'd risk someone with sharp hearing among his pursuers backtracking and finding him.

He used this sparce breathing space to calculate his plan of action. It wouldn't be very ideal to simply run around like he had been doing all day. Most of the shinobi would be deployed to scout the ground as the trees make pursuit more difficult than it would be if it was in an open field. However, their numbers clearly diminish that disadvantage to nil. He could roam the treetops which would make his travel faster, but he could easily be spotted by anyone scouting there as well. It wouldn't be any different than a chase in an open field. Since neither the forest ground nor the tree tops were good ideas, then he was left with his last option. For some reason, this last idea brought a smile to his face.

"_Underground."_

While still cradling the blanketed child, he lifted his free hand and readied himself to strike the ground to initiate his technique. Swish! A soft, nearly inaudible sound caused him to stiffen a moment and the sudden movement in the background forced him to dodge forward into a roll in order to avoid being skewered by a –

"Snake?"

Only a few people in his mind registered when a snake came to mind. "Anko …"

The projectile, which was indeed as snake flew a good distance past his last position until it stopped and speedily went back to its source behind a bush as though it was being pulled back. A gruff looking woman with shoulder length hair jumped out of the grass not far from his position. Her dark outfit blended in with the night and he didn't notice her presence until the very last moment.

"Well … I didn't expect you to be the first one to find me," he smiled under his mask, which was obvious because of the way his eyes narrowed politely. He was replied to with a smile of her own as snakes danced along both of her arms that seemed to come out from her sleeves.

"You are really, really careless. You should be ashamed of yourself." He was about to refute her but a sudden charge of twin snakes from both of her hands made him jump onto a tree-branch just above him in order to avoid the attack. Dead leaves rustled as the reptiles impacted onto the bare ground until they retracted back along Anko's arms.

"That's not nice, you didn't even let me defend myself," he frowned, again somehow obvious under his mask because of the way his eye expressed his body language for him. How he played with the word 'defend' however, was lost on the kunoichi. She launched the snakes at the branch which the male easily evaded just like the previous attacks. As he was about to land on another branch, he was surprised to find that another snake was already headed his way. He twists his body in air, avoiding the venomous fangs that were bared his way and caught the branch as he missed his landing point and dangled there, eyeing his enemy. As her snakes again began to retract into her hands, he began assessing the situation again.

"_She has range on her side, not to mention those snakes are poisonous, no doubt." _He quickly dodges the series of snake-based attacks being launched at him, swinging from branch to branch and jumping from tree to tree around his attacker as she followed in pursuit, jumping along different trees in order to keep up while keeping her target on his feet by relentlessly attacking every moment she could afford to. _"She sure has improved over the years even without her sensei, but she is still rather impatient." _He couldn't help but silently compliment his pursuer, but he couldn't let the chase last too long or the others would catch up to him. _"That would be bad if it came to that"_, he concluded.

After pushing off the last tree with a strong jump, he spares Anko a slight glance to see if she is in the right position for him to initiate his move. She was right behind him by a tree. _"Perfect," _he smiled. Anko didn't notice his change of expression until she was face to face with her intended target. Face to face with one deep brown eye, and one deep red eye with three abnormal marks, the marks of the sharingan.

Several minutes later, the group of chunnins who were supposedly under Anko's command followed in their missing commander's trail. They were already positioning themselves in order to initiate the planned pincer maneuver, but Anko had told them that she would just give the area another quick once-over just to be sure and to follow her if she didn't come back in five minutes. True to their words, five minutes later they were scouring the forest for their missing commander-in-charge.

"Over here! Quickly! Bring the medic-nin!" the anonymous ninja waved his hands furiously in the air to get everyone's attention.

The others quickly ran to the one who shouted while pointing behind a large tree. The sight behind the age-old wood sent chills running down their spines. Anko bloodily stood there unconscious, tied to the tree with her own snakes with the fangs being used to fasten her tightly in place. Along her shoulder was another snake, decapitated with its fangs sunken deeply into her shoulder.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

This is chapter has been updated, changed, re-written, proofreaded, shreaded and butchered several times. I think as of this writing, this is the most correct version this chapter will ever see. As time goes along, there's a chance that I will combine this with the other prologue chapter (part 2 is currently in the works). My friend Juls helped me with countless corrections and suggestions which I honestly believe helped make this chapter much better than the first few versions I posted on ffnet.

Thanks, Juls.

Also, thanks to my 2 reviewers (as of this writing) and especially to Surarrin who is the author of the Naruto fanfiction, "An Alternate Path" which I heavily recommend to those who favor a fresh approach (meaning something that doesn't stick so closely to the canon that they might as well be welded together with bubblegum).


	2. Prologue Part 2

A man made his way through this energetic place, "Brilliant Shores" the center of the Wave Country. Carrying a poorly crafted basket with several layers of cloth protecting its contents, he weaved to and fro between countless pedestrians with grace and finesse. The main city was bustling with energy.

People were moving left and right, going here and there like a colony of ants. Some were on their way to the market to buy their daily groceries, some on their way to work for their wage and earnings. Everyone was so busy with their own lives that they probably had little time to think about anything else, or anyone else for that matter. He noted such as he passed a few beggars on the street who none could seemingly see, like they were completely invisible. He could only wish that it was because of the effect of some form of genjutsu, but he knew the sad reality. They were scattered and present in almost every corner. Some of them were simply laying about while others openly begged in silence for any form of charity. He spared each of them some change as well as very gentle smiles. His kindness earned him their own smiles in return not to mention quite a bit of attention from the amount of beggars who were gathered to him. Their smiles weren't much, but to him, all of it was more then enough.

One person stood out for the basket carrying male, however. A small blonde boy with shoulder length hair, no older than five wearing rags as tattered as the next beggar stood right in front of him with a quizzical look, as though he was questioning himself whether or not to approach and ask for alms.

Reaching into the basket, the man took the initiative and pulled out a brand new lollipop. With another smile, he offers it to the boy. With eyes wide open with surprise and disbelief, the boy takes the treat and bows in thanks, tears nearly slipping from his eyes. The man welcomes the surprising hug from the youth that followed and laughed almost silently when the boy skipped away with careless glee. Feeling very proud, he continued on his way, feeling strangely invigorated.

Thud! The solid sound of a body hitting the ground caused him to turn his head to the source, a hand manning his sunglasses so it wouldn't fall from the motion. The sight caused his previously smiling face to turn sour before it became completely void of emotion, eyes narrowing and remaining as the only expressive feature on his now stoic face.

"How dare you touch me!" another thud was heard, this time it was the sound of a foot hitting someone's ribs. That same foot reeled back. A second thud was heard, but the second kick never came.

Completely surprised, the person who was just then in the position of power now knew the feeling of the cold, hard concrete floor. He tried to get up, but the feeling of something tightly clutching his foot caused him to turn his head to what it could be. At first he could only see the silhouette of a tall man, but as he looked closer, he could make out the features. Definitely tall with a simple sleeveless black shirt, blue pants, and a basket at hand. However, most striking about this tall figure was his silver hair, the scar over the left side of his face and those cold eyes that felt so chilling even through those dark sunglasses he wore.

"Who are you and what the hell do you think you're doing!" Seemingly undaunted and angrier than before but still on the floor, the man tried to break the grip from his feet. But the more he tried to break free, the tighter that hold became and soon, the grip was strong enough to make him cry in pain.

The stranger then began to speak.

"The question is, who are **you** and what do **you** think you're doing." Two important words rang with heavy emphasis in an otherwise flat rhetoric statement. His voice so deep and so cold, if anyone had dared to go against him before, none would now. They all began to back away, unintentionally forming a small circle around the two men in the middle and the young child who was clutching his stomach in pain, writhing on the ground. "Apologize to that child." The stranger's words were calmer now, despite the tinge of cold in each and every word.

"What the hell are you talking about! You're a sick bastard just like the rest of them! This is assault! Someone, get the police! Arrest him! He's a mugger, just like that trash who grabbed my bag!" the man's words were harsh, and he said it all without blinking or hesitating.

"N-no! I- I just bumped into your bag by mistake, it's the truth! I'm sorry!" defended the small and broken voice that came from the blonde child on the ground, still clutching his stomach. Regardless of who they believed, no one among the crowd moved, frozen by some immense fear that none could explain.

Even on the floor, the man didn't know the meaning of the word fear. The stranger who towered over him wanted little else at that point but to instill true fear into this person. And he would do just that.

The silver haired stranger moved with mechanical precision. He roughly pulled on the man's foot to get him within arm's reach. He released the foot from his grip, allowing blood to circulate through it again, only to have his hand cut the circulation through his victim's neck this time around. Placing the basket on the floor with utter care, his now free hand slowly lifted the sunglasses from his face, completely revealing closed eyes and the scar that was cleaved all the way through the left side of his face.

"What is it like to be human? You will not understand it until you realize what it feels not to be treated human." The stranger's eyes slowly started to open as he continued. "Therefore, you will be treated the way you have treated that **trash** for forty-eight hours." By the time the last word left his lips, his eyes were completely open.

For the person being pinned against the ground, his last seconds were spent gazing into the single blood red eye with three distinguished marks that began to grow and connect to each other, forming a shuriken like pattern. Those marks began to spin, more and more rapidly until they drew a single circle. Then without realizing it, he was in a different world, the world of the Blood Red Moon. Suddenly, the stranger wasn't there anymore. He got up while wondering what happened. One moment he was being harassed by a person in the market, suddenly, that person wasn't there anymore. He didn't have time to understand reality however as several beggars started to approach him from all sides, one of them being the child who allegedly tried to steal his bag. He was about to scream at them to go away, but cold metal suddenly clasped around his arms and legs. A moment had not even passed and he was suddenly crucified.

"Someone help me!" he screamed. No one moved to help him. Everyone in the market scene continued to walk independently, each in their own ways. He was being ignored. No one would hear him. He was now panicking, the smartest thing he's done that day. A fist met his stomach and caused him to yell in pain, but still, no one moved to his aid. A second, third, fourth and fifth punch was thrown his way, each causing him to yelp in pain and terror, but still, no one paid him any heed. Punch after punch after punch landed on his body, each and every single one felt absolutely real. He didn't understand what was happening, but it didn't matter. He was being brutalized in the open, and no one cared. After what felt like forever, a voice suddenly spoke from behind the cross, a familiar voice, the voice of the stranger who disappeared.

"A second has passed, only forty-seven hours, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds left until your ordeal comes to an end."

Complete terror came across the crucified.

"Please … please … I'm sorry … I won't anymore … it hurts … ", tears came running down his cheeks. The entire crowd was dumbfounded. Just a second ago, all that the silver haired man did was lift his sunglasses and stare into the eyes of the guy under him. Then suddenly, the previously aggressive man turned meek and started crying, even writhing as though he was in utter pain. He looked completely pathetic, but no one felt pity. They only felt fear and confusion.

The stranger closed his eyes and let the sunglasses fall back where they should be. Fingers rubbed his temples as though he suddenly felt a headache, but he quickly stood up as though nothing was wrong. He gave the man crying on the ground one last look before he turned around and walked towards the direction of the small boy who was still in pain.

Many of the villagers backed away even further the closer he came. The little boy in his direction also tried to move away in fear, but his soothing voice made all the difference.

"Don't be scared," he smiled once again and stretched out his hand, motioning him to take it. At first he hesitated, apparent form his tear ridden eyes. But he soon took his hand, which made his smile brighter and more affectionate. He gently pulls the boy up and closer to him and places his hand on top of the small head. With a poof of smoke, they both disappeared, leaving the crowd in awe and confusion as well as a man who cried himself to sleep in the middle of the street.

Somewhere, away from the busy and indifferent streets of the city, an apple gets sliced off its branch and falls into the hands of a small boy who readily dug in with great hunger and fervor.

The same silver haired man from the city sliced another apple from the tree he was hanging upside-down from but caught it instead of letting it fall. He detached his feet from the branch he clung to and dropped with silent grace to the ground below.

Aside from the sound of crunching apples, both the boy and the man shared a comfortable moment of silence until a nearly non-existent voice broke it.

"Why … why did you help me?" He stared at his half-eaten apple as though it would answer his question.

The man stopped and seemingly considered the answer to the question presented to him. He bit into the apple again and promptly swallowed before finally giving his reply.

"Because you resemble someone I value very much, or at least you resemble what I might see in the person in a few years or so." He stopped to throw his apple in the air and catch as it fell. "Seeing you get hurt, I saw this person get hurt too."

"Oh…" the boy said, seemingly dejected as he hung his head and just stared at the apple.

"But," the boy's head promptly raised itself as the man's voice came to his ears again, "you shouldn't be treated like that. I know how hard it can get, and you don't need people like them to make it any harder for you. I just taught him a lesson so he'll leave you alone from now on." He stopped and sat up, leaning towards the boy. "I didn't want to see you get hurt. You deserve someone to fight for you too." and he finished his sentence by poking at the youth's nose which earned him a giggle.

"W-what's your name, mister?" he stuttered slightly, feeling quite shy about asking the grown-up's name.

He smiles as he answers the question, "Kakashi."

"I'm Riyuko." The boy said in turn. For a moment, Kakashi was surprised.

"A-aren't you a boy?"

"Of course not, silly! I've always been a girl." The kid giggled again.

Simply put, Kakashi was dumbfounded for a good few seconds. When he finally regained enough of himself to realize his mistake, he joined the young girl in laughter.

* * *

Author's Notes: 

I didn't have anyone's help in proof-reading or rewriting this chapter so I'll have to apologize for any crappy writing or typos on my part.

Also, I'm sorry that this one is almost a week late. I always intend to update on Sundays, but I didn't realize how busy I could get with my subjects this semester. From the looks of it, it'll be very tough making an update at least every week. Then again, I can just learn to maximize my time and I might get everything done on time. I'll try to update again this Sunday night.

To those who are thinking this fic is Kakashi-centric, it's not, but Kakashi is the only moving character right now, so expect to see a bit more of him for one more chapter or two. The prologue will probably have one or two more chapters, depending on how I distribute the events that will eventually lead into the main story. But Kakashi fans shouldn't fret as he will be a main character in the main story.

For those who wonder why he has the Tsukiyomi, I'll get to that as the fic goes along. But yes, he has Tsukiyomi, meaning he has the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Please feel free to leave reviews as any input will be appreciated.


	3. Prologue Part 3: Dear Diary

_Dear Diary,_

_I don't know why, but mom and dad were talking about memories today. I didn't know what a memory was so I asked them. Dad said that a memory was something you remember from a long time ago. They told each other about lots of their memories. I don't know a lot of the memories they were talking about. But that made me think of my most favorite memory. I think it was a year ago. No, wait it was two years ago. I'm pretty sure it was two years ago … _

_I went out of the house late in the afternoon so that I could play outside. Mom doesn't really want me to go outside, so I had to wait for to take her afternoon nap, she always takes afternoon naps. Dad said that's because she was getting old. He got a good beating with a dinner plate after he said that. Father would always be at work until the sun went down, so I didn't have to worry about him catching me._

_There was this secret place that I always went to. Not even mom or dad knew about it. I found it myself while I was looking around the forest. It was getting pretty dark, so I knew it was already late. I accidentally stumbled into the clearing when I tripped on a really big tree root. It was huge! Anyway, I sorta rolled down until I just stopped and there I was! A whole big place of flowers!_

_I love flowers. They're pretty and colorful and they smell really nice. It's like a big field of colors all over the ground. I love to jump and roll in it and make all the petals fly and dance in the air. It's such a pretty sight and I never get tired of doing it. And after I finish playing, the flowers make such pretty necklaces and bracelets. I couldn't take them home though, because mom and dad would find out I was going out without them knowing. Nu-uh! I'm smart, so they never found out._

_I don't know why, but mother doesn't want me to go out so much. She says that it's dangerous out here. But we're the only people who live out here, and the village is an hour away by foot. Dad says its an hour, but I think it's a bazillion hours! Because I take so many steps and I'm so tired when I get to the city and then we also have to walk all the way back! _

_I don't get to go out much though, so I never had to worry about the long trip to the city. But dad sometimes brings home stuff from the city. He gave mom a new pan the other day, and he gave me a new book. Dad always brings home books for me. He was really, really surprised that I was really into reading. He said that he doesn't think its normal for kids my age to be reading so much but it was good. Mom was really happy too. She says that I don't write like a kid. I write like an adult just like them. I guess its because of all the books I read. I have a ton of books now and dad keeps in bringing in more books too! I love my books. Dad told me that I should write so that I could get better and gave me this diary to write in everyday. Writing was so hard at first, there were all these letters. Reading was easy, but writing was sort of hard. But its easier now. Dad was right._

_Anyway, what I really wanted to write about was this. I was in my personal flower glade and from no where was this really tall guy. He was really handsome too. He was carrying a basket and had these really dark glasses that my mother said was called shades. He said something like, "Hey." And I was like, "Hello" and he said, "I heard there was a family who lived all the way out here, are you their kid?" or … something like that. He said a lot so I don't really remember. I didn't know what to do because mom said never to talk to strangers, ever. But he seemed really nice though, so I nodded. Mom said it wasn't good to lie._

_He sat in the glade with me and we talked about a lot of stuff. He really was a nice person with a really deep voice. I wanna grow up like him one day. When it started to get dark I told him I had to go home. He said that I was a good girl. I told him I was a boy, and for some reason he went all silent. I was really happy to have met him and I felt like I would see him again. I wanted to see him again too._

_I got home before mom woke up and went to my room and started reading the book I didn't finish the day before. I was surprised when mom shouted from the kitchen that it was already dinner time. Wow, it happens every time I read something. Time just zooms by and things happen and end before I knew anything did happen. Dad was home too. Wow, I sure missed a lot because of that book. I can't seem to find it anymore though. That's ok, I've read it at least seven times already. _

_While we were eating dinner there was a knock on the door. Dad got up and answered it, but he didn't come back to dinner. I wanted to know what was taking him, so I got up too and headed for the door. Wow, I was really surprised with what I saw._

_The stranger I met earlier that day was talking to my dad at the door. My dad seemed kinda upset. He was all frowning and not talking. But the guy with shades was talking really calm and deeply like he was in the glade. He even waved to me and I waved back. I was really lucky he didn't say anything about meeting me earlier. That would've been trouble. _

_He was pointing to the basket again and again and at times, it almost sounded like he was pleading my dad for something. They were using such big words that I don't really remember what they were talking about then. I sort of understand now what they were probably talking about though. _

_My mom came up from behind me and started talking too. She seemed really worried too. I guess that's normal since we don't normally see people coming, especially since it was dark. We never had people over when it was dark. I can't even remember when we had guests when it was daytime._

_My mom told me to go to my room. I went away, but I didn't go t my room. I just hid around the corner and peeked and listened to what they were saying. They were talking for a really long time._

_I guess I fell asleep because when I woke up, I was already in bed. The sun was up too. I was a bit confused at first. I didn't know if I was just dreaming or if all that happened the day before was real. I went out of my room and found dad assembling something. I asked him what it was and he said that it was my crib from when I was a baby. I was wondering why he would be putting it up since I wasn't a little kid anymore. He laughed and asked me what do I think he would be doing it. Dad was playing with my head again. He loved to do that, especially when he learned I loved books. I never understood the connection._

_I gave it a lot of thought. I was thinking and dad kept working. I thought I finally had the answer and said, "Is there gonna be another baby?" Dad laughed and looked really happy and said, "That's my boy." He actually said I was his … gee nyus boy, but I don't know what that word means, but he was happy so I think it meant something good._

"_You have a baby brother." I never forgot what he said. I had a brother. I didn't know what a brother was at first, but when dad told me all about it, I was really excited. I had a baby brother! That was so cool! I wanted to see him! Dad said that he was still sleeping in mom's room so I ran there right away. Dad said something while I was running, but I didn't hear him and tripped on my way to mom's room. _

_Mom shushed me when I opened my mouth. But she made this hand thing that meant she was telling me go get closer to her. _

_I was really, really surprised. In mom's arms, was a really little baby boy with blond hair and whiskers on his face._

_That's my favorite memory, the day I met my little brother, Naruto. _

_I have to stop now. My hand is really tired. But I'll write again, since everyday is something to write about again. But that's tomorrow, since I've written so much today. _

_**Haku**_

_**

* * *

**_I'm really bad with updates. This one is a few days off. Anyway, I hope people don't mind the sudden change in style for this chapter. I guess I'm taking the liberty of taking different approaches for different chapters so that I can keep things different for both me and the readers. This was fun to write because I didn't have to worry so much about grammar or things like that. If anyone is wondering why the writing is so good for a young kid, well for one, I'm considering Haku to be a boy-genius and that covers things such as language.

The next chapter will be the last of the prologues and the story will really begin.

I want to thank all the people who've been reading this fic. I am honestly surprised with the number of hits I've gotten. I hope that I'll get more reviews as well since its good to hear from the people who read my work. I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter and look forward to more from his fic.


	4. Prologue Part 4: Hokage

"Stupid hokage, this is all your fault."

A very bitter and disgruntled figure sat on a makeshift bench made out of little more than a wooden plank. He worked his paint brush into the can of paint that rested on the bench with him. With a sweep of his hand, his canvas now bore a huge red splurge right across the surface.

"Consider this pay back, you old fart."

The young artist sighed. This form of stress relief just wasn't cutting it for him. Sure, he's been able to tap into his creative side and create never before seen feats of work for everyone to see, but it wasn't what he wanted or needed. He wanted something else. The paint brush falls back into the can of paints with a small plop and a hand reaches for the wet paint on the wall, bitterly wiping it into random directions as the man broods over thoughts of the past. He dabbed more paint over his work as he started to reminisce.

He remembers the office clearly, since its something he has to see everyday anyway. He remembered every little detail, things like how many papers had to be done that day, how far the chair was from the table, how much coffee was left in the mug, which books were in which shelves, which scrolls were rolled up, which weren't … special days have special memories it seems, which are specially remembered.

Click.

Ah, right on time. He remembered exactly when the door opened and how he welcomed the person who came in. Namely, with a very focused gaze.

Without a word, a person walked in. Dressed in tight black pants, a sleeveless black shirt with a metal plated armor over it and a porcelain mask resembling a dog, the guest scratched his head as he made his way in front of the wooden desk. There was dead silence hanging over the room as they both looked at each other, one of them having to look from behind narrow slits of a mask and the other having to look past it from the other end.

"So," came a soft voice from behind the desk.

"So?" replied the voice that came from in front of it.

"How did it go?" the figure cloaked in a mixture of a white cape over red robes taps his fingers impatiently over his wooden desk.

The figure on the other end of the table tilts his head to the side while rubbing the porcelain chin of his mask. "Do you want the long version or the short-"

A sharp glare forced the masked figure to swallow his own breath and silence him for a good second. "It went well! It went well!" he threw his arms in front of himself as though expecting some form of attack even though none really came.

Finally, the person who still sat behind the desk smiled softly as he relaxed his whole body and brought his hands together and clasped his fingers together gently. "Tell me the whole story, please." His voice had that commanding tone to it, but the masked figure could tell that it was more pleading than anything else.

"You don't mind if I take a seat first, would you?" the masked person asked in a joking manner. Of course, it was rhetorical and he proceeded to pull a seat for himself and lay back as though it was his office. "Now, let's see, where should I start?" Slowly, he began to undo the clasps of his mask. As though understanding a hidden message, from behind the desk, the heavily robed person spun on his seat and proceeded to shut the blinds that let light into his office. Relative darkness showered over the entire office space with only a few small shafts of light passing through the imperfections in the blinds.

"Thanks. As expected, infiltration of the primary objective was a rather simple task. Although security was relatively thorough, there were still several holes that could readily be exploited if you knew where to look." With the mask finally loose, he takes it off and places it face up on the desk.

"According to plan, detection didn't occur until outside the gates of Konoha, but even then time was relatively short and there was no room for error." He pauses for a moment, staring at his own mask as a glint of sunlight marked a spot on the surface.

"Konoha ninjas are definitely nothing to be scoffed. They really did chase me for days on end and without the supply of soldier pills received before the mission, I would've probably been caught in little over forty-eight hours." Course hands picked up the dog mask, fingers tracing the contours of the design as his narration continued. "There were times when I was able to hide within small villages and remained safe for a couple of hours at most. I have to say that some chunnins have poor detection skills." Once more, the porcelain meets the wooden desk.

"As I reached past the border of Fire Country and made into the Water Country, I was able to attain twenty-four hours of grace period. Luckily official paperwork takes quite some time to accomplish, and without it, the ninjas on my tail couldn't continue their chase past the border. This allowed me time to looks for a place to complete the mission objective." He cricks his neck and looks up at the ceiling and stares at it for a good while. "Sadly, there weren't many places I deemed … fit for the primary objective." From behind the desk, the figure in white robes smiled. He definitely chose the right person for the job all right.

"When the grace period was over, I was pursued again. When the mission reached the seventh day period, which is considered the critical period, the pursuers went all out. The contract that allows them passage into the Water Country would expire and they would have to go back empty-handed. Therefore, the seventh day is the day when they would maximize all their efforts." He laughs, "And boy … that was a headache."

"I congratulate them for being well organized despite the size of their numbers and for the commanding officers," he coughs while patting playfully at his own chest, causing his listener across the table to laugh, "for doing such good jobs at taking charge of lower and equal ranks with effective display of command and decisive decision making abilities. They were able to bring all their numbers together and act as one cohesive force." He even emphasizes his point by clapping his hands together a couple of times.

"Then, a commanding jounin intercepted me at the last few hours of the day and I engaged the officer in battle. As planned, I made it look good." He grins under his black face mask.

"Too good," came the reply from behind the desk, the owner of the voice grinning with equal mischievousness. "Anko came back with several bruises, a three broken ribs, a broken arm, six puncture wounds and mild poisoning. I can tell you right now, she wasn't very happy when she woke up, Kakashi."

Kakashi just laughed and shrugged the comment off, "She wouldn't have been too happy if I held back. She's always been wanting another battle with me but I've always been too busy because of my Anbu duties. Being her first chance in a good while, she made the best of it. Unfortunately, I didn't really have time to play with her. If you ask me, I would think that she forgot all about the 'real' mission."

From behind the desk, Kakashi received a nod, "It would seem that way. And for your information, no one suspected that 'Kakashi' who was one of the commanding officers in the team in pursuit was actually me in disguise of a special henge, save for those who were part of the real mission."

"Such as Anko and I." Kakashi added.

From behind the desk, the man nodded sagely. He shuffled a few papers on the table and proceeded to pull out a folder and opened it and scanned through a few pages. "The entire team had to pull out of the Water Country before the safe passage papers expired. They came back to Konoha three days after failing their mission objective. Several ninjas were lightly injured with bruises and cuts, some had minor burns as well as concussions. The worst off in the whole group was Anko, but you already knew that." He closes the folder and places it back on top of a pile. "They requested to have the mission reinstated, but due to legal and political reasons, I could no longer assign the mission and neither could they pursue." Again, his hands clasp together, "Officially, the pursuit mission never happened."

Kakashi had to grin underneath his mask, "You're getting pretty good at this legal thing, aren't you?"

His listener grinned back, "Of course. Being the hokage, I'm supposed to know all about all the things there is to know about leading a whole village comprised of civilians and ninjas." He spun on his seat and looked at the window. He uses his fingers and pries open a small portion of the blinds and peeks through. "The civilian populace keeps the whole village running, and yet they know nothing of what's really happening, and its supposed to stay that way. They're our most important resource after all. If they heard that the … sealed demon had left the village, then it would be a riot." A painful expression reached his face. He wouldn't ever use the demon host's real name.

"And if they heard that a mission to retrieve the demon failed, then we would definitely lose their support." Kakashi finished, but then he paused. "You don't have to call him that in front of me. I know the truth, that's why I accepted the S-Class mission behind the A-Class mission to pursue me." At first, Kakashi felt slightly offended in the carrier's steed since the person in front of him of all people should know the real truth … but underneath the underneath … there must be a reason.

Kakashi's words seemed to remain unheard though as all there was in the room was silence. "Yes, we would lose their support. So, no one among the entire civilian populace was to find out. But there are also ninjas who fear the demon. The whole pursuit was staged to appease them with enough reason not to pursue any further."

Underneath his mask Kakashi frowned, but he decided not to push the topic of the 'demon'. "Yes, I know." It was his turn to clasp his hands together, "Once the chase was officially over, I was able to freely roam the Water Country in order to find a proper place for the carrier to live in. It was … a relatively hard search, but I did manage to find a good place for him after searching long enough." He smiled again, "As you requested, I will not spill any more details concerning his new home, but he'll be safe and happy there. I've made sure of that."

The figure behind the desk smiled as he shuffled the paperwork on the desk into a neat pile, "It is an official edict that those who took part of the mission never speak of it, and no one is to cross the Water Country among them. No one is to look, talk nor ask about the demon carrier." He sighed softly, "No one is to find out where he is hidden right now. And you, Kakashi," he looked at the name's owner sternly, "Are not to say a word to anyone about it, not even to me."

The silver haired man himself smiled, "I'd be happy to comply. I'm his godfather afterall."

Kakashi received a nod an a grateful expression from behind the desk. "Kakashi, you are dismissed. Forget all about what we talked about in here. None of it occurred and not a word of it was spoken." Kakashi nodded and picked up his mask, tucked it under his arm and proceeded to walk out of the office, "Oh, Kakashi." Once again, Kakashi turned around to regard the person who spoke his name, "Anko said she wanted to see you when you got back."

Obviously, Kakashi gulped and earned a snicker from across the room. After that, Kakashi turned the door nob, but once again, "Kakashi."

"Yes?"

"Thank you." By the time Kakashi turned around, he was met with the sight of the hokage bowing before him in genuine gratitude. Kakashi himself bowed in respect and equal gratitude, "No. Thank you for letting me be a part of his mission. I'm happy to do something for him and for you, Yondaime Hokage."

SPLAT! The yondaime finally added his final touch to his work of art which he finished right as his memory of that day came to a conclusion. Carefully, he pulls on the rope that held his makeshift bench floating a few hundred feet into the air. As he ascended he smiled childishly.

The Yondaime Hokage just turned the Sandaime Hokage's monument into Konoha's largest clown face.

* * *

Author's Notes:

This is it, the last of the prologue chapters.

I have to apologize for poor grammar on this piece. I just finished it and decided to upload it right away. I don't have a lot of free time for a couple of days, but I decided to continue with the story anyway. So, if anyone notices any errors, please feel free to point it out, I'd love to correct them.

To be honest, I sort of dislike the expository nature of the chapter. It reminds me too much of the way the last chapters in Harry Potter suddenly just divulge all the mysteries in one go rather than slowly unravel them throughout the story. I'll try to avoid it in the future chapters. Well, not that there were a lot of mysteries to start with. I just hope that this chapter doesn't come out weak or disappointing.

Anyone is free to comment and even suggest better ways of telling this chapter. I'm not very good with foreshadowing and things like that, especially since half the entire story comes out spontaneously as I write it.


End file.
